Ford tops IIHS safety results, Lexus and Infiniti miss out

Ford tops IIHS safety results, Lexus and Infiniti miss out

James Martinez
November 25, 2008
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The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) today released its annual list of vehicles that had earned the agency’s coveted 'Top Safety Pick' award, revealing that some major milestones had been achieved. According to the president of the IIHS, Adrian Lund, "Top Safety Pick winners are the top performers in tough front, side, and rear crash tests, and they have electronic stability control, a crucial technology that can help drivers avoid many crashes altogether.”

While Ford topped the list with 16 of its vehicles being included, the real celebrations would have been taking place over at Acura. The premium Honda subsidiary garnered a 'Top Safety Pick' for every vehicle in its lineup, while the entire Honda group managed to get 13 of its vehicles into the list. One notable brand missing from the list was Lexus, who along with Infiniti, found many of its vehicles' head and seat restraints were inadequate to achieve the award.

Like Lexus, Chrysler also did not get a single vehicle on to the list. Both Toyota and General Motors had eight vehicles on the list, but their focus on less expensive vehicles made it difficult to include advanced safety features as standard on cheaper models.

A total of 72 cars were on the list, and a large number of these were in the SUV or large car category, however one notable exception to this rule was the Honda Fit (Jazz). As the only subcompact on the list, the Fit managed to shatter the myth that size equals safety, although the lack of other minicars indicates that it is difficult for carmakers to make these cars safe when the profit margins are already so slim.

The large number of offerings from Detroit indicate that new safety technology is hitting its mark, and the disappointing result from Chrysler was said to have been avoidable had some of their cars had better head restraints. Meanwhile, Ford now claims that the results show that American cars can compete with Japanese and European cars when it comes to safety.